March 12, 2009

I think that the problem of fear mainly arises from a wrong focus of our minds and attentions. When we give ourselves over to concentrating on possible mishaps or what might happen, then we begin to fear. Consistent thoughts about possibilities often lead to worry and the longer we worry the greater our fear grows.

Conversely, if we fix our focus on God and how might and awesome He is; and we trust in the promises of His Word, then our minds will be filled with the majesty an power of God and our worries will look too small to bother us. God is bigger than all our fears and as long we trust in Him, we will have no reason to be anxious. Consider the case of Peter:

Matthew 14:22-36 tells us that the disciples had gone ahead of Jesus in their boat so that Jesus could pray alone. By the time He was finished, the boat was a ways off and Jesus, being God, decided to walk out to them on the water.

The disciples see Jesus walking toward them and they immediately think He is a ghost and become afraid. Jesus, seeing that they are afraid, calls out "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid"(Matthew 14:27).

Peter decides to test His claim and asks Jesus to tell Peter to walk to Him on the water. Jesus does so and Peter steps out of the boat. Looking at Jesus, he puts one foot, then another on to the water. Then he takes a few steps. Peter is walking on water! And all the while his eyes on Jesus.

But then the initial excitement wears off and Peter realizes what he's doing. The Bible says that he saw the wind and became frightened (Matthew 14:30). Maybe he started to think, "What am I doing? People don't walk on water. That's impossible. What if I fall through?" But one thing is sure, as soon as this fear took him, he began to sink. He had taken his eyes and focus of off Jesus and began to worry.

So it is with us. As long as our eyes are on Jesus, our fears won't be as big in or minds. We will be able to accomplish great things in the power of the Holy Spirit because our fear will not hold us back. But when we take our focus off of Jesus, then we are prone to fall. I pray that we would learn to focus on Jesus and trust in His strength.

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About Me

I am a young Christian who is seeking to glorify Jesus Christ with all of my life, including this blog. With this blog, I hope to share thoughts that will be edifying, encouraging, and enlightening to other Christians seeking to serve the Lord with their lives.